A New Leaf's Embrace
by ladyinquisitor93
Summary: Raina Sarutobi is the adopted daughter of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, & his wife, Biwako. They took her in when she was found without any memories of her past & raised her as their own. For years the Hidden Leaf was everything to Raina, but things begin to fall apart when she loses everything. Follow her as she lives her life as a Hidden Leaf kunoichi. Some mature content.
1. Chapter 1

**1 Year BNT (Before Nine-Tails)**

Raina had been placed into a team with Inaka Korumasu and Gen Hama. The first mission they had together after becoming chunin was a simple C-ranked delivery mission, transporting a package to an ally village in order to help restore what was destroyed during the Third Great Shinobi War, but they would soon find out that something was array.

Raina was tense the entire trip thus far and jumped when her sensei, Yamika Unohara, touched her shoulder.

"Relax, Raina. There's nothing to worry about."

Raina had always been able to sense things no one else could and was very perceptive. She felt the hairs standing on the back on her neck and she began to fiddle with her hair. "Sorry, Yamika-sensei. I'm just uneasy, that's all. I can't shake this feeling, like we're being hunted down, toyed with."

Yamika looked at Inaka and Gen. They laughed at an inside joke, then glanced back when they noticed their sensei and Raina had fallen a bit behind.

"Raina, are you OK?" Inaka asked.

Raina nodded. "I'll be fine." She touched the small bag of special scrolls she kept with her and made sure her weapons pouch was secured. "Just being overcautious as usual, I guess."

Gen laughed at that. "As always. What is it this time?"

"Gen, it doesn't matter." Yamika said. "Let's just continue on ahead. There's an inn not far from here, so let's try to make it before the sun sets?"

"Yes, sensei."

That was the end of it for a while, but then when the sun began to sink behind the tree tops and the sky began red and orange, an icy shiver ran down Raina's spine and she reached for her kunai.

"Raina?"

"There's something out there, Yamika-sensei… Or someone…" she said, taking a defensive stance.

"Can you use your kekkei genkai?" Inaka asked.

Raina nodded and silently activated her kekkei genkai, which allows her to see the electrical pulses that run through any living thing and follow them like the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan follows chakra. She looked around and saw the outline of twelve people's electrical pulse network. Her eyes widened when she saw how close they were.

"What is it, Raina?" Gen asked.

"There's twelve of them, not sure who- I think they're rogue Shinobi- but they're closing in…" Raina said, looking at them. "We need to keep moving, sensei. I don't think that we can afford to stop for the night. Is there a way we can mask our chakra to hide ourselves from them?"

Yamika nodded. "I know just the thing." She formed the hand signs for her trademark cloaking jutsu and nodded when she was finished. "I don't know how long it will hold, but I suggest we keep moving."

"Wait, Gen, give me the package." Raina said, pulling out one of her scrolls. "Let me store it in this scroll and I can send it on ahead to our contact."

Gen nodded and pulled out the package, handing it to her.

Raina formed the hand signs to activate the scroll jutsu. She set the package down and watched it be absorbed into the scroll. She activated the seal on it and made sure that it would only be activated by their contact's chakra. Luckily, they had met the man before and she knew his chakra well. She left a note on the scroll with the code word they had agreed on so that when the scroll arrived at its location, their contact knew it was for them. She nicked her finger and drew a transportation seal on the tree branch they rested on. She formed the signs to activate the seal and watched as it vanished. She took her finger and wiped the seal into a smudgy mess.

"Here, Raina, let me heal that for you." Inaka said, using a simple healing jutsu to heal the wound. "There."

"Thanks, Inaka." Raina said, then looked at their sensei. "Yamika-sensei, what do we do next?"

"Let's start doubling back. I know your transportation jutsu will get the package there no problem and with that seal you put on it, I know it will be safe. If we can make it back to the village, we can inform the Hokage and go from there."

The chunin nodded and followed their sensei as they doubled back and started heading home. Raina kept her kekkei genkai activated and tracked their pursuers, but they were closing in fast and they were nowhere near close to reaching their home village.

"Sensei, there's a trap up ahead." Raina said, seeing the electrical pulses flowing through the chakra seal activators. "They plan on trapping us with a barrier jutsu. The seals are ready in place."

"Is there no avoiding them?" Inaka asked.

"Not unless we go around them, but we'd have to go sixteen miles to the north, the ten to the east just to get around the barrier jutsu. Even then, though, it'll take us an extra week just to get home."

"I think it's worth the risk." Gen said.

Raina looked at their sensei. "What do you think, Yamika-sensei?"

"We need to try and get back to the Leaf as quickly as possible. The Hokage needs to know about these rogue Shinobi." Yamika said.

Her chunin nodded and followed her lead. Yamika tried to lead them through safely, following Raina's directions as she searched for openings and ways around the trap, but one of the barrier seals activated before Raina could see it and they were trapped within the barrier jutsu as the seal set off a chain reaction.

"Sensei!"

Yamika and her chunin stopped, trapped in the barrier. Raina looked around, trying to find a way out, but couldn't.

"Sensei, what do we do?" Inaka asked, but she was cut off when a kunai struck their sensei's left shoulder, piercing into her heart from the force of it being thrown. She spurted blood from her mouth and began to foam at the lips from the poison laced on the tip of the blade. She fell to the ground, seizing up as the poison spread through her body.

"Sensei!" Gen ran to her side, but he was taken down when a set of poisoned senbon pierced his neck, hitting the jugular.

"Gen!" Inaka rushed to them, trying to save at least one of them, but a barrage of shuriken were thrown at her and hit each of her pressure points.

"No..." Raina couldn't do anything to stop them from dying before her. She felt something stir in her and she released a massive surge of chakra that demolished the barrier jutsu. She ran to Inaka, who was barely alive, and dropped to her knees. "Inaka..."

"R-Raina, get back to t-the village... T-Tell the H-Hokage what happened..."

"I can't just leave you all here, Inaka!" Raina refused.

"Please, you need to go..."

Raina shook her head and glared as the rogue shinobi landed in front of her, surrounding her and the rest of her team. "The war is over! You killed them... You bastards, I'll kill all of you!"

One of them- bearing the insignia of the Hidden Grass Village- chuckled and stepped forward. "Hand over the package you carry and we'll let you live."

"I don't have it. It has already reached its destination and now it's out of your reach for good. You worthless pieces of trash... You killed my friends!"

The rogue shinobi stared at her as she began to radiate with an ice blue aura of chakra, sparks beginning to ignite around her. "What is that?" was the main question asked, but they felt that they couldn't get away, couldn't escape the trap they had gotten themselves into.

Raina didn't know it, but she came from a line of shinobi that possessed both the kekkei genkai Storm Release and Kizuna Raiko. The Kizuna Raiko she had mastered, using it like the Hyuga use their Byakugan, but she did not know that she possessed the kekkei genkai Storm Release. She felt the ice blue aura of chakra drawing in the energy from the storm clouds brewing above her and she felt the electrical currents in the lightning as they were drawn into her. She somehow saw in her mind's eye the hand signs for the Storm Release- boar, then horse- and summoned the jutsu. She found that she was able to generate a thick ring of thunderclouds and electricity around her, creating an offensive and defensive ward. She used the clouds to fire powerful blasts of lightning at her enemies, and as an electrified perimeter; effectively preventing them from getting closer to her. She felt the tears slipping down her cheeks and with Kizuna Raiko still activated, she saw the electrical pulse networks of each of the rogue shinobi disappearing as they were each electrocuted.

Panting as the lights of life flickered out of her Kizuna Raiko's sight, Raina dropped to her knees, the tears free flowing. She couldn't let them overcome her just yet, so she opened her bag and pulled out a special scroll, unrolling it in front of her. She pulled out another scroll and summoned black blankets which she then used to wrap the bodies of her sensei and teammates. Trying to be strong, she dragged the bodies to the special scroll and placed them in a line. She activated the scroll and watched them disappear within it. She rolled up the scroll and tucked it into her bag. Swallowing her sorrow, she pricked her finger and drew a transportation seal in blood, thought of home, and stepped onto the seal.

"They should have sent word by now that the package was delivered, right?" one of the Anbu said, pacing in the Hokage's office.

The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, looked out of the window as the rain started to really come down. "Yamika and her team may have just been caught in the rain."

"But, Lord Hokage-" the Anbu started but was interrupted when a loud crash sounded in the center of the office.

Everyone turned to look and saw a figure crumpled in a heap on the floor as the smoke began to clear.

Minato hurried over when he recognized the figure. "Get Hiruzen, now!" he ordered and knelt down. "Raina, can you hear me?"

Raina looked up, her face covered in blood and tears and dirt. "Lord Hokage... I'm sorry..." she said.

"What happened, Raina, where are the others?" Minato asked, helping her to sit up. He watched as she pulled the special scroll from her bag and spread it out, activating the jutsu and revealing the bodies of her sensei and her teammates. "Oh god..."

Raina looked down at the floor and began to weep. "I couldn't save them..." she said through her tears. "We were ambushed- rogue Grass shinobi- and they attacked with poisoned weapons..."

"What did they want?" Minato asked.

"They wanted the package, but I used a scroll to seal the package within it and placed a jutsu seal that would only activate when it reached our contact... I put the code word on the scroll so they knew it was from us... They killed everyone... And I couldn't save them..."

Minato held onto the girl as she wept, pulling her into his lap as he sat with her on the floor of his office. He waited for her father, the previous Hokage, to join them and when he finally did, he looked up at his predecessor.

"What happened, Minato?" Hiruzen asked, kneeling next to his adopted daughter.

"She was the only one to make it back." Minato said and looked over at the wrapped bodies of Yamika, Inaka, and Gen. "They were ambushed."

"Raina..." Hiruzen said, touching his daughter's shoulder.

She looked up at him. "I'm sorry, Father... I failed them..." her tears began anew as she hugged her father, letting him pull her into his arms as Minato stood.

"Oh, my dear girl..." Hiruzen held her close to him and stroked her dark silver hair. "Minato, can you see to it that their families are notified? Raina was able to bring back their bodies, so we can at least give them a proper burial."

"Of course, Hiruzen. We'll take care of everything. You should get her home." Minato said.

Hiruzen nodded and headed home, sheltering his daughter from the rain. She fell asleep as he hurried her home, tired from the whole ordeal. Hiruzen opened the door to his home and Biwako looked up when she saw them.

"Hiruzen, is she alright?" she asked, running to them.

Hiruzen shook his head. "She just returned... She lost her whole team..."

Biwako put a hand to her mouth as she gasped. "Oh, poor thing...! Here, let me take her and I will get her changed into something dry."

Hiruzen let his wife take their daughter and went to their room to change. When he came into the living room and sat by the fire, Asuma had woken up and come to see his father.

"Father, what's going on?" he asked, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"I will explain in the morning, OK, Asuma?"

Asuma nodded. "OK, but is Raina going to be alright?"

"I hope so, my dear boy." Hiruzen answered and took his son to his son, tucking him into bed. As he closed the door to Asuma's room, Biwako came out of Raina's with the same worried expression as she had when they first took the girl into their family.

"Will she be alright, dear?" Biwako asked, a hand to her chest.

"She will need to heal. It is best that we let things take their course and just make sure that she is not alone."

Biwako nodded and they went to bed. Both of them could not sleep for they were too worried about their daughter. It would be hard to see her suffer, to see her grieve.

A few days later, the funeral arrangements had been made. Raina wore a black dress and black flats, her hair braided and tied with a black bow. Her eyes were sunken from days of crying and barely sleeping as images of her dead comrades haunting her dreams. She walked silently with the others and stood in the front of the gathered shinobi and citizens attending the funeral of Yamika Unohara, Inaka Korumasu, and Gen Hama. She could hear the whispers of some that said she failed her team, that she shouldn't have been the only one to survive, and she knew she was right. She should have died instead of them.

As she stood staring, barely listening to the prayers and funeral rites spoken as they buried her friends and sensei, Kakashi Hatake and his team stood next to her family. The Third Shinobi War had ended earlier that year and Minato had been elected as the Fourth Hokage, so naturally they stood with previous Hokage and his family.

When they covered the graves with the wet dirt and people began to offer their condolences, Raina couldn't take it anymore. She turned and ran, heading as far away from the village as she could. She stopped by her favorite tree next to the Naka River and stared down at the water. The ripples from the rain drops calmed her a bit, but she felt the pain overwhelming her heart.

She began to weep again, falling to her knees and holding herself.

"Raina?"

She looked up at the voice and saw Kakashi coming over to her. She sniffed and looked away, trying to stop the tears as she stood. "W-What do you want?"

Kakashi came to stand in front of her. "I was worried when you ran off. You scared your family; they have no idea where you are."

"So?" Raina asked, then started to walk away.

Kakashi reached out to grab her hand, trying to stop her. "Raina, wait."

She turned and wretched her hand from his grasp. "Leave me alone!" She cried, then took off running.

'Raina...' Kakashi thought and took off after her. He knew he couldn't leave her alone like this.

Raina ran, nowhere in particular in mind, trying to escape the grief and sorrow. Her hair got snagged on a thorny branch and she tripped trying to free herself, slipping down the muddy hill and landing next to the river. Kakashi finally caught up to her and looked around, not seeing her, but when he spotted the black ribbon Raina had tying her braid together. He looked around and saw the skid marks from when she fell and looked down at the river bank.

"Raina!"

She pushed herself up as Kakashi slid down to make sure she was OK.

"Raina, are you alright?" he asked, kneeling beside her. "Looks like you sprained your ankle."

"I couldn't do anything... I failed them..." she said, her tears renewed. She looked up at him. "I let them die..."

Kakashi pulled her into a hug. "No, Raina, you didn't. I know you, you did everything you could have done. There's wasn't anything that could have changed what happened."

Raina wept into his chest.

Kakashi sat with her until she calmed down a bit, stroking her back as he held her close to him. When his father committed suicide nearly six years ago, Raina was there to comfort him. When he lost his teammates just before the end of the Third Great Shinobi War earlier in the year, she was there for him again to comfort him and help him through such a hard time. He still mourned for them, still felt responsible, but now he wanted to be there for Raina instead and take care of her like she had him during this period of grieving and sorrow.

She couldn't tell how long they sat like that, but it was long enough for the storm to pass and the sun starting to break through the cloud cover. She sat back and looked at the ground, sniffling.

Kakashi managed a worried smile and lifted her chin. "You'll be OK, Raina. Let me help you through this, alright?"

Raina nodded and hugged him. "Thank you, Kakashi..."

Kakashi hugged her back and turned around. "Come on, let's get you home." he said, offering to carry her back to the village on his back.

Raina accepted, knowing she couldn't walk back on a sprained ankle. She let him hoist her onto his back and held on as her friend carried her home.

They walked in silence for a while until Kakashi remembered the news he wanted to tell her when she got back. "Hey, Raina?"

"Hmm?"

"They promoted me to jonin." he said.

"Really?" she asked, looking at his left eye as he glanced at her. "When did this happen?"

"About two weeks after you left for your mission. I wanted to tell you when you got back, but then everything happened so fast I nearly forgot."

Raina managed a small smile. "Good for you, Kakashi. You deserve it after all your hard work."

"Now we just need to work on you becoming a jonin as well. After your ankle is better, of course."

Raina rested her chin on his shoulder and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. "You're amazing, Kakashi." she said, then felt exhaustion pulling at her eyes.

Kakashi sensed that she fell asleep when she remained silent for a few moments and smiled. "So are you, Raina."

He continued back to the village and looked up when Hiruzen and Biwako opened the door as he approached their house. "I managed to find her, but she hurt her ankle. I think it's sprained." he said, letting them take her from his back. Biwako carried her daughter inside and Hiruzen looked down at the silver haired young man.

"Thank you for bringing her home, Kakashi. We were so worried when she ran off."

"Of course. I'm just glad I found her before something worse happened."

"Indeed."

"Well, I should get going. I have to make sure that Minato-sensei knows Raina's OK. He's been worried the last few days about her."

"Tell him she'll be alright and thank him for us. Minato has acted like an older brother to Raina and Asuma over the years, looking after them when we could not." Hiruzen said.

Kakashi nodded and bowed before he left. As Hiruzen went inside and Kakashi headed towards the Hokage's office to speak with his sensei, he reached up and touched his cheek. He could still feel the warmth of Raina's kiss upon the fabric of his face mask and he blushed. For a long time he had really liked Raina, but she was a couple years younger than him and they never got to see each other much anymore with all of the missions and the war going on. Now that things had settled down, maybe they could start building something.


	2. Chapter 2

**October 10, YNT (Year of Nine-Tails)...**

Raina ran through the streets, trying to help those around her as much as she could. The Nine-Tailed Fox was attacking the village which meant that something was wrong. Very wrong. Fire burned everywhere, the stench of blood heavy in the air. By the time Raina was able to figure anything out, she had arrived outside of the village, deep within the forests surrounding it to find Minato and his wife, Kushina, dead next to their newborn son, Naruto. Since the resealing of the Nine-Tails happened far from the Hidden Leaf Village, only her father and the two shinobi that accompanied him, actually bore witness to Minato and Kushina's sacrifice. With the village having suffered heavy casualties during the attack, only a few of the villagers would come to accept Minato's final wish that Naruto be seen as a hero, while out of fear and hatred the others made no distinction between him and the Nine-Tails itself, for the Nine-Tails' actions. This was despite the fact that he was the one containing the beast, preventing it from harming the village.

Raina stared down at the bodies of their Hokage and his wife, two of the people whom had cared for her just as much as her adoptive family, and tears stung her eyes. Beside her, Kakashi appeared, gaping in horror at what he saw before him.

"No..." He fell to his knees and crunched the dirt in between his fingers as they dug into the ground. "Sensei…"

"Kakashi..." Raina started, then knelt down and pulled him into her arms when he began to weep.

His sensei, the only person he had left in the world, was gone. He was alone again, without a father, without his friends, without his sensei. He was nothing.

"Why...?" he asked no one in particular through his sobs.

Raina let the tears slip from her eyes silently as she tried to comfort her friend. "He gave his life to save us all..."

"Why am I being punished...?" Kakashi asked, gripping her shirt tightly in his hands as he buried his face into her chest. "I keep losing everything..."

Raina felt helpless, as helpless as she did the day her team and sensei died. She didn't know what words of comfort she could offer that had not been said before, so she just sat and waited as he let it all out. She looked over as her father picked up Naruto and held him in his arms.

"What will happen to him now?" she asked, looking at him.

Hiruzen sighed and wrapped the newborn in his blanket. "We must look after Naruto from now on, Raina. We must honor his parents' wishes."

Raina nodded and stayed with Kakashi while they watched as the bodies of the fallen, including those of Minato and Kushina, were taken to the hopsital to be prepared for the mass funeral.

As the days went by since the Nine-Tails' attack on the village, life had been quiet and filled with saddness. The funeral was held within a week or two of the attack and a monument was built to honor the fallen. Because of Minato's untimely death, and having no suitable candidates at hand at the moment, Hiruzen was forced to come out of retirement to retake his position as the current Hokage, despite his age. The village began to rebuild and recover from the ordeal, but that fateful night left scars in the hearts of all of the Hidden Leaf- scars that may never heal.

 **7 Years ANT (After Nine-Tails)...**

"Raina, can I speak with you?"

She looked up at her friend and smiled. "What's up, Iruka?"

"I've decided to become a teacher at the Academy." Iruka said, his hands in his pockets as they walked around.

"That's great! You were made chunin last year, so that'd actually would be perfect for you talents." Raina said, smiling.

"I was wondering if you'd come with me." Iruka said, looking at her.

Raina looked over at him. "You want me to become a teacher, too?"

Iruka nodded. "I just don't want to do this alone, you know? And you haven't taken on any missions lately, not since you were made jonin earlier this year, and you haven't been assigned a team yet. I think it'd do you a lot of good to become a teacher."

Raina smiled and looked at the sky, a sadness in the air. "You're right. I've been afraid to take on a team and I keep getting reminded of what happened to my own team any time Father asks me about it. I just don't want to fail another team like that again. And you know, I think I might like that, actually. I think teaching _**would**_ be good for me."

"We should take the exams together. They start up soon." Iruka said, smiling.

"That'll be great." Raina said smiling. Iruka had been her best friend for as long as they had known each other. Even though she became a chunin and jonin before him, she had been there for him through it all.

"Oh, hey, Kakashi!" Iruka called, seeing him sitting in a tree reading a book.

Kakashi looked up and waved back, but looked at Raina in surprise as she appeared in front of him, snatched away his book, and appeared next to Iruka. "Hey, Raina, give that back."

Raina shook her head and stood behind Iruka, slipping the book into her friend's pocket. "You'll have to come and get it from me first!" She called, then looked to Iruka. "Let's have some fun." She said, smirking.

Iruka nodded and smiled. It had been awhile since they had pulled any pranks. He shot off in one direction and Raina shot off in the other. He smirked when Kakashi went after her, not realizing that she had slipped the book into his pocket. He made his way home and set the book on his desk. 'I'll give it back to him tomorrow.' he said, smirking, and went to make himself something to eat.

Meanwhile, Raina used a shadow clone of the book and teased Kakashi with it. "You'll have to be faster than that!" She laughed and headed straight for the training field she and Kakashi usually used, towards the outskirts of the village. She looked behind her and couldn't see him anymore, though she didn't drop her guard. She landed in one of the trees and waited, sliding the book into the front of her flak jacket.

Kakashi smirked as he sneaked up behind her. He grabbed her and pinned her against the tree. "Can I have my book back now?"

Raina smirked and looked up at him. "You'll have to find it first." She said, blushing a little.

Kakashi smirked and pinned her hands above her and used his free hand to pull the book from her jacket. "You aren't nearly as clever as you think, Raina." he said, his smirk growing wider.

"Oh really?" she asked, her own smirk growing wider.

Kakashi looked at her, then at the book as it disappeared into a puff of smoke. "Where's my book?"

Raina smiled and disappeared in a puff of smoke, just like the book. "You forget how adapt at Shadow Clone jutsu I am." she called, from down on the training field.

Kakashi looked down at her and shook his head, both amused and annoyed. "You're going to pay, Raina."

Raina smiled and stuck out her tongue. "You'll have to catch me first! You catch me and I'll make you dinner at my place, but if I reach the top of the Hokage Monument first, then you have to take me to that new sushi place!" She said and took off running, not even waiting for an answer. She headed through the streets and straight for the Hokage Monument where the stone faces of each Hokage from the first to the fourth were immortalized upon the mountain side. She smiled when she sensed him closing in on her, so she picked up her speed and zigzagged straight for the mountain.

Raina had always been fast and it never ceased to amaze Kakashi with her speed. He had trouble keeping up with her sometimes- well most of the time- but he knew the streets and rooftops of the Hidden Leaf Village well from his races against Might Guy. He knew of a shortcut to the top and as he suspected, he arrived before Raina did.

Raina stopped at the top of the monument and stared in annoyance at Kakashi when she saw him lazily leaning against a tree. "How?"

Kakashi smirked and walked over to her. "That's my little secret. Now, why don't we head down for some ramen? I do believe that you're paying?"

Raina rolled her eyes and followed next to Kakashi as they descended down the mountain and back into the village. "When did you get so fast?"

Kakashi chuckled. "You're still faster than me, Raina, I just outwitted you."

Raina lightly punched his arm and did a mock pout. "You big meany."

"When I said you were going to pay, I meant it." Kakashi said. He looked down at her and smiled.

"Well, let's just hurry to my place so I can get started on dinner."

Kakashi laughed at her tone, sensing the tease within her words. He knew she loved to cook and it wasn't really punishment for her losing. He had a hunch she held back a bit just to lose so that she could make him dinner. "Hey, why don't you go on ahead? I'd like to pick something up from home first."

"Ok, but I'm going to kick your butt if you're not there within an hour." she said, giving him a playful stern look.

"I'll be there, trust me." Kakashi said and took off towards his apartment.

Raina sighed and hurried home so that she could go shower and get changed before she started on dinner.

When he reached his apartment, he searched through his drawers trying to find the small package he had kept hidden away the last few weeks. Raina had been promoted to jonin a few months ago, but he had been on a mission, so they never got to celebrate properly. He went to his desk drawer and pulled out the bottle of sake he had bought to celebrate her promotion. He went to go shower real fast, got changed, and tucked the package into his pocket before grabbing the bottle and heading out.

While Kakashi took care of his business, Raina had showered and changed into a light mint green dress, a white apron over the dress. She hummed to herself and went about setting the table for her and Kakashi. A knock at the door made her smile and she could sense Kakashi's chakra through the door.

"Come on in." she said as she opened the door for him.

Kakashi stepped inside and looked around. Compared to his single room apartment with a bed, desk, and bookshelf but nothing else, Raina's little house suited her very well. It was a small house, more like a cottage, that had two bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a decently sized yard where he knew she grew her own produce. The front door opened to a small hallway that led into the living room and kitchen. As he followed her inside and shut the door behind him, he saw a small table with four chairs in the kitchen area that was set off to the side next to the window. Hardwood flooring throughout the house had a soft chestnut color and the walls were painted a light blue with white curtains hanging above the windows. He set the bottle of sake on the table and watched as Raina moved around the kitchen, putting the final touches on the food before bringing it over to the table and setting it down.

"You've got a nice place here, Raina." Kakashi said, offering to take one of the bowls and helped her finish setting the table.

"Father got it for me." Raina said, then noticed the bottle of sake. "What's that for?"

"Oh, well, I thought we could drink it tonight to celebrate your promotion to jonin. We haven't had a real chance to do it yet." Kakashi said innocently.

Raina smiled. "Well, that's sweet of you."

Kakashi smiled. "I also have a couple surprises for you. Tomorrow is your birthday, isn't it?"

Raina looked up at him. "Yes, why?"

Kakashi handed her the small package from his pocket. "I got this for you. I was going to give it to you tomorrow, but since I'm here now, I don't want to wait."

Raina took the package, opening it. Inside was a silver necklace with three silver pearls. It was simple and beautiful. "Kakashi... It's so beautiful..." she said, taking it out to touch the pearls lightly.

"I saw it during my last mission. The village we were in had it on display." Kakashi said, taking the necklace from her.

Sensing what he was trying to do, Raina lifted her hair out of the way and let him put the necklace on for her.

Kakashi locked the clasp in the back and looked down as Raina touched the necklace lovingly and looked up at him. "Do you like it?"

"I love it! Thank you, Kakashi." she replied, smiling.

"Well, that's not the only thing I have for you." Kakashi said.

"What do you mean?"

He took her hand and placed it on his cheek. "Go on."

Raina looked at him and knew he was going to let her remove his mask. "Kakashi are you sure?"

He nodded. "I only wear this to hide myself. Since I was a kid, I've always been looked down on by the villagers because my father sacrificed a mission in order to save his comrades. I wanted to hide myself. But I don't want to hide myself from you." He said softly, looking at her.

Raina could see something in his eye that almost looked like he was begging her silently to remove his mask. "You're certain you want me to do this?"

"It's the other part of your birthday present." Kakashi said, smiling.

Raina nodded and gently pulled down the mask, revealing his face for the first time in the years that Raina had known him. She stared at him, taken aback by what she saw. He was gorgeous. She could feel herself blushing profusely.

"Raina?"

She came out of her daze and smiled. "So that's what you've been hiding all these years?"

Kakashi smiled. "Surprised?"

She blushed and shook her head. "No, I just wasn't expecting you to be so handsome." She looked back up at him. "Thank you for trusting me enough to show me your true face."

He smiled. "You're the only person that I trust to show my face to."

"Well, I'm glad. But, you shouldn't hide your face away so much. You're too handsome for that." She replied. Standing on her toes, she leaned in and placed a small kiss on his cheek before setting herself back down. "Let's eat, OK?"

Kakashi blushed and nodded, sitting down at the table. He looked at the spread before him and smiled. Raina had gone a little over the top, but it was plenty of food for two people. She had made salt-broiled saury, rice, teriyaki chicken, and some miso soup with eggplants and had prepared some green tea sweetened with honey and lemons.

"I hope you like it." she said and served him some tea.

"You're cooking is always the best, Raina." He pointed out, smiling as she blushed. "You even made the salt-broiled saury and miso eggplant soup I like so much."

They sat there for a while and enjoyed their meal together, talking of missions they had been on, places they'd seen, just basically catching up. Kakashi watched as Raina would touch the necklace he gave her lovingly and each time she caught him watching her, he made her blush, thinking it was adorable.

"You know, that necklace really does look good on you." he noted.

Raina touched the pearls again and smiled. "I really do love it." she said. "Are you done eating?" she asked as he set down his chopsticks.

"Yes, I think I've had my fill." he replied. "Would you like some help cleaning up?"

"No, it's alright. You're my guest, so you can relax." She responded with a smile.

Kakashi sighed and went to sit on her couch, waiting while she cleaned up from their meal. She washed the dishes, put away the leftovers, then grabbed the bottle of sake before coming to join him in the living room. She set the bottle down on the coffee table and sat next to him.

"So, what are you going to do now that you're a jonin?" Kakashi asked, opening the bottle.

"Well, Iruka and I were talking earlier and we've both decided to become teachers. We're going to enroll in the exams soon."

"Teacher, huh?" he mused, taking a swig of sake.

"Is there something wrong with that?"

"No, not at all. I think you'd be a better teacher than Iruka, actually. Just don't tell him I said that." Kakashi smirked and looked at her.

Raina giggled. She took the bottle for a moment and took a deep swig of sake and felt the warm flowing sensation of the alcohol running down her throat. "Well, to tell you the truth, I don't think I could do anything but teach."

Kakashi took another swig as she handed the bottle. "What do you mean?" He offered her the bottle back.

Taking the bottle, Raina took a swig and stared down at her hands. "Ever since I lost Inaka, Gen, and Yamika-sensei, I've been too afraid to join another team. Father was kind enough to just let me train with him and I was able to finish school and become a jonin, but I feel lost, too. I want to be able to learn and grow as I would with a team, but I don't want to risk failing them like I did that day. Being a teacher would allow me to prepare my students to be able to handle a situation like mine was. I look back on that day sometimes and wonder what we could have done differently, what I could have changed to get a different outcome- one where my teammates and sensei didn't die."

Kakashi looked at her, the flush of alcohol starting to show on his cheeks. "Raina, there was nothing you could have done. Those rogue shinobi are to blame and you defeated them all. They paid for what they did."

Raina looked at him, a sad smile on her face. "I didn't just defeat them; I killed them..." she said, then looked away. "When they tried to come after me, Inaka was dying in my arms. I felt something stir in me that I never knew I had."

Kakashi felt his brow furrow and his eyes narrow as he listened.

"There was this ice blue aura of chakra that danced around me and when they came at me, I felt the aura drawing in the energy from the storm clouds brewing above me. I felt the electrical currents in the lightning as they were drawn into me. Somehow I know the hand signs for whatever it was- boar, then horse- and summoned a jutsu I've never seen before. I found that I was able to generate a thick ring of thunderclouds and electricity around me, creating an offensive and defensive ward. I used the clouds to fire powerful blasts of lightning at the rogue shinobi, and as an electrified perimeter, which prevented them from getting closer to me. I had my Kizuna Raiko activated, so I saw the lights of their electrical pulse network flicker out and disappear."

Kakashi sighed and remembered something he had read a while back when he was researching the different types of jutsu- the kekkei genkai included. "It sounds like the kekkei genkai Storm Release. I wonder if it's something from your birth family that was passed down. That would help us figure out who your real parents were, if you wanted."

"There's no need, Kakashi." she said, taking a deep swig of sake. "I am one of the Saurtobi now and anything before that doesn't matter. I just need to train myself and try to control this Storm Release as I did with Kizuna Raiko."

"I can help you, if you want."

Raina smiled and looked at him. "Thanks, Kakashi. I'd appreciate it. With your skills in lighting type jutsu, especially with Chidori, you're probably the best person to teach me."

Kakashi smiled and looked down at the bottle. "Do you want to finish off that sake?"

Raina looked down and shook her head. Handing him the bottle, she smiled. "Here, there's not much left."

Kakashi took the bottle and finished off the last bit of sake. Setting the empty bottle on the table, Kakashi leaned back and put his arms behind his head.

"Kakashi, can I tell you something?" Raina asked, shifting her body to where to face him on the couch.

"Hmm?" he glanced over at her and saw her blushing, but he wasn't sure if it was just the sake or not.

"You've always been there for me, through everything, and you've always protected me. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that." she started, looking down at her hands.

"Raina?"

"I can't help but feel something for you, but I don't want to risk losing you as a friend..." she admitted, looking back up at him. "I've let myself fall for you, Kakashi Hatake, and I can't keep that bottled up anymore."

Kakashi couldn't believe his ears. He had fallen in love with Raina Sarutobi the first moment he had ever met her, but he never acted on it. He had first thought it was just puppy love as children, but then as the years went by and they got older, he began to realize that it was actual love. And now, here she was- the girl of his dreams- confessing her feelings for him.

Raina gazed at him, trying to gage his reaction. 'Am I a fool to think he might love me too? Am I a fool to tell him these things? What if I screw everything up? What if I lose him forever?' She sighed and looked away, feeling her chest constrict. "If you don't feel anything for me, it's alright. I just needed to tell you."

Kakashi leaned in and took her face in his hands, gently placing his lips on hers. Raina was a little taken aback, but she leaned into the kiss and returned it. When Kakashi pulled back, he smiled.

"Since the day that I met you, Raina, I have loved you." he said, cupping her neck. "I've wanted to tell you for so long, but I wasn't sure if you saw me the same way or not. Now I know."

Raina smiled and reached up to touch his hand. "Kakashi, I have loved you for a long time and I want to be with you. Will you be mine?"

"Always."


	3. Chapter 3

**8 Years ANT...**

"Itachi, why?" Raina asked, trying to stop him from leaving the village.

"Because it was easy." the young man said.

Raina felt her hands ball into fists. "But they were your family! How could you do something like that?"

"It does not matter to you. It is none of your concern." Itachi said.

Raina couldn't believe what she was hearing. Itachi Uchiha had just massacred every member of the Uchiha clan, save his younger brother, Sasuke. "I can't let you leave the village, Itachi, you must pay for what you have done."

"Then you leave me no choice." he said and activated his Mangekyo Sharingan, trapping her in his genjutsu.

Kakashi had been searching for Itachi, who had once been his subordinate until he became the youngest Anbu captain in Konoha history, but when he managed to find him, he stared as Itachi took his blade and slashed it across Raina's chest.

"Raina!"

Itachi turned away as Kakashi ran to catch her, disappearing before Kakashi could get another look at him and masked his chakra.

Kakashi lost sense of where Itachi was, but he was more focused on the bleeding Raina on the ground. He dropped to his knees next to her and tried to put pressure on the wound. "Raina, hold on!" he said, desperately trying to stop the bleeding. When he could not, he took bandages from his bag and tried his best to dress the wound before he scooped her into his arms and shot off towards the hospital. He ran as fast as he could, holding Raina to his chest. "I need a doctor, now!" he cried when he burst through the hospital doors.

A doctor and several nurses rushed to his side and took Raina from him, placing her on a gurney. "What happened?" one of the nurses asked, stopping Kakashi from following them to the emergency room.

"Please, let me go with them. I need to stay with her!" Kakashi pleaded, tears threatening to form.

"Kakashi, you need to calm down." the nurse said. "What happened to Raina?"

"It was Itachi..." he said, finally backing down. "When she tried to stop him from leaving the village, he trapped her in his genjutsu and slashed her chest open with his blade." He looked at the nurse. "Is she going to be alright?"

The nurse saw the amount of blood on his Anbu vest and looked at him concerned. "Assuming that's all of her blood on you, then I hope so. She may have lost more blood than we can see on you and if that's the case, she'll need blood transfusions. If she was affected by the genjutsu, it may be long term, but it's too early to tell. I will notify the Hokage, but if you wish to remain here and wait until you can see her, then please, have a seat over there."

Kakashi shook his head. "I will report to the Hokage. He needs to here this directly from me."

"Alright, but be sure to let the Hokage know that she cannot receive visitors until tomorrow at the soonest." the nurse said and went to join the others as they tried to save Raina's life.

Kakashi felt his chest constricting as he hurried to the Hokage's office. He didn't even bother knocking on the door and burst in, dropping to one knee and bowing his head before the Third Hokage. "Please forgive the intrusion, Lord Hokage, but I have an urgent report that requires your immediate attention."

Hiruzen looked at him and saw the blood all over Kakashi's Anbu vest. He glanced at Danzo, the head of the Anbu Root branch, before he greeted the young jonin. "Please, speak."

Kakashi stood and looked at the Hokage. "We were able to locate Itachi Uchiha, but before he could be apprehended, the jonin who encountered him was trapped in his genjutsu and severely injured. They are now at the hospital receiving emergency care."

"And what of Itachi?"

"Itachi Uchiha slipped away and masked his chakra before I could pursue him any further."

"Who was the jonin that encountered him?"

"Raina Sarutobi."

Hiruzen froze and stared at the young jonin in shock and fear. "Raina...?"

"I'm afraid so, Lord Hokage. Raina was the one who encountered Itachi and tried to prevent him from leaving the village, but was caught in his genjutsu before she could do anything else. I arrived just as Itachi wounded her."

"How bad is she?" Hiruzen asked, fearing the worst. "Is that her blood?"

Kakashi nodded and felt his chest tighten as he looked down, his fists balling up. "She was severely wounded. I couldn't stop the bleeding, but I dressed her wounds and took her straight to the hospital. The nurse said she may need blood transfusions and she will not be able to receive any visitors until tomorrow at the soonest." he said, then felt as if the tears were finally going to form and slip down his masked cheeks. "Please, forgive me Lord Hokage... I wasn't able to prevent this from happening... I couldn't-"

"Kakashi, I know what my daughter means to you. You have been together for nearly a year now and I understand that you feel responsible, but you are not. There is nothing you could have done to stop this. Let us just pray that she makes it through the night." Hiruzen said. "Why don't you go home and change. Danzo can send someone to take you place and we will handle things from here."

Kakashi nodded and left the Hokage's office. He felt guilty for her condition and knew that he could never forgive himself if she died because he failed to protect her. He threw his vest and clothes into the washer of the communal laundry room of his apartment complex and went to go shower. Even as the blood washed away in the washer and off his skin and hands, Kakashi could never get the image of the woman he loved, bloodied in his arms. He let the hot water run over his body and slammed his hand into the wall, creating a huge dent and cutting his hand on the broken tiles. He didn't curse, but instead felt nothing as the blood drip from his wounded skin and washed away down the drain.

"Raina... I'm so sorry..."

The next morning, Kakashi went to Yamanaka's Flowers and bought a bouquet of azalea's, Raina's favorite flowers, and made his way to the hospital. The Hokage was kind enough to give him time off as they figured out how to deal with Itachi Uchiha slaying the whole of his clan- save Sasuke- and how to keep the situation under control. Leaving the task to Danzo and his assistants, Hiruzen had already arrived at the hospital with his wife and son.

"Lord Hokage, may I come in?" Kakashi asked, sliding open the door to Raina's room.

"Oh, Kakashi, yes, please come in." Hiruzen said.

Biwako looked up at him and hugged him. "My poor dear boy..."

Kakashi returned her hug and presented her with the bouquet. "I brought these for Raina."

"Oh, purple and blue azaleas, her favorite..." Biwako said, tearing up. "You're such a dear..."

While she went about getting a vase to put the bouquet in, Asuma stood aside as Kakashi came to look at Raina as she lay unconscious in her hospital bed.

"What did the doctor say?" Kakashi asked.

Asuma looked from his fellow jonin and friend to his little sister. "She's in a coma right now and they think it's because of the genjutsu Itachi used. They don't know when she'll come out of it, if at all, but they were able to get her blood transfusions for the vast amount of blood she lost and they have her stabilized. Now we have to wait for her to wake up."

Kakashi sat next to her bed, her father sitting on the other side, and reached over cautiously to grasp her hand. She felt so cold and she looked like he could lose her at any second. He felt the tears in his eyes starting to brew, despite him fighting them, and Asuma touched his shoulder.

"Kakashi, it's alright to cry." he said, knowing how much Kakashi blamed himself for Raina's condition.

"A shinobi must never show his tears." Kakashi said, refusing to cry.

Asuma sighed and Hiruzen looked at Kakashi. "Kakashi, forget the Shinboi Code for now. You love Raina as much as we do and while we are here in private, I think it'll be safe for tears to be seen and let free."

Kakashi nodded and stopped fighting his tears as he reached over to touch her cheek. "Raina, I'm so sorry..."

Biwako came over and stood behind her husband. She watched with tears of her own as Kakashi began to weep as he feared he would never get to see Raina awake and well again. Asuma rubbed his friend's back and let his own tears slip silently from his eyes as Hiruzen grasped his wife's hand and freed his tears as well.

They could only hope that Raina would be alright, that she would come out of this coma soon.

 **17 Years ANT...**

Birds chirped outside and Raina opened her eyes, feeling a pounding in her head.

"W-Where am I?" she managed to get out, but her throat was so dry she thought it might crack.

"You're at the hospital in the Hidden Leaf Village. Do you know your name?" a strange woman's voice asked, coming from the foot of Raina's bed.

Raina looked at the woman and nodded, rubbing her temples. "My name is Raina Sarutobi. I am the adopted daughter of Biwako Sarutobi and her husband, Hiruzen, who is the Third Hokage."

"Do you remember what happened? Why you were brought here?"

Raina tried to think, but the last thing she remembered was darkness. "No, nothing. Just darkness."

"Well, that's to be expected due to the condition you were in when you were brought here."

"How long have I been at the hospital?"

"Nine years."

"Where is Kakashi?" Iruka asked, coming into the Jonin Standby Station's lobby.

"He's supposed to be back from the meeting of the Shinobi Alliance soon. Why, what's up?" Kotetsu said, looking up from his game of cards with Izumo.

"Raina's awake." Iruka said. "She's finally awake."

"N-Nine years...?" Raina couldn't believe her ears.

"Yes. You have been in a coma for the last nine years. When you were brought to the hospital, you had suffered a severe wound on your chest as a result of trying to subdue Itachi Uchiha. He had trapped you within his genjutsu and wounded you, leaving you for dead before he managed to escape."

"W-Where's the Hokage? He's my father, shouldn't he be here?" Raina asked.

The strange woman looked at the woman next to her and sighed. "Raina, your father, Hiruzen Sarutobi, passed away five years ago. I am Tsunade, I took over as the Fifth Hokage, but I am retired now."

Raina's chest tightened and she felt like she couldn't breathe. "No..." She dropped her head into her hands and began to weep. "No... It can't be true..." Raina wept, her heart aching. Nine years she had been in a coma, nine years of her life just gone, and now she finds out her father was gone too. It was too much for her and she started to hyperventilate. She couldn't breathe.

Tsunade came to her side and rubbed her back, telling her to take deep breaths. Raina pushed her away and ran out of the room, surprising everyone she passed that she was able to even stand on her feet after nine years in a coma. She had no strength really left in her, but she couldn't bear being in that room with that kind of news. She had to know for sure and ran towards the memorial stone.

"Lord Hokage!" someone yelled, Iruka right behind them.

Kakashi Hatake looked over at the men as they joined him. He had been named the Sixth Hokage, but it would take time to get used to that title. "Iruka, Kotetsu. What's up?"

"It's Raina, Kakashi..." Iruka said, panting.

Kakashi's eyes widened. "What about her?"

"She's awake..." Iruka said, smiling.

Without a word of thanks or any at all, Kakashi took off towards the hospital. He ran as fast as he could and when he reached her room, all he found was Tsunade and Shizune.

"Where is she?"

Tsunade looked up. "She ran off when we told her what happened to her father and how long she had been in the hospital. We can't find her."

Kakashi cursed under his breath and took again, looking everywhere he could to try and find her. He searched everywhere he could think of, then looked at the memorial stone. When he arrived at the stone, he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw someone standing in front of the stone.

Long silver hair that reached nearly to the ground swayed in the wind and he knew immediately from her chakra that it was the person he had been searching for, had waited for.

"Raina..."

There it was: Hiruzen Sarutobi. Not too far from it was another name: Asuma Sarutobi. Amongst the names of her father and brother were the names of many of her friends, all lost during the Fourth Shinobi World War. She reached out to touch the names, hoping it was just a dream.

"Raina..."

She knew that voice, the shock and surprise clear in the tone. She turned and looked at the man who spoke to her and felt the tears fall silently down her cheeks.

"Kakashi..."

Kakashi Hatake stood before her, adorn with the garb of the Hokage, whilst she stood before him in a hospital gown and her hair a mess.

"Is this real?" Kakashi asked, lowering his mask and staring at her in disbelief.

Raina ran to him and threw her arms around him. "Kakashi..."

Kakashi held her tightly to him, never wanting to let go again. "Raina, I've missed you so much..."

Raina let her tears fall and she buried her face into his chest, weeping. She could only remember the darkness surrounding her, seeing Itachi Uchiha take his blade across her chest but felt no pain, then slipping deeper into darkness and Itachi disappearing. There was nothing but darkness for so long, but the more she healed, the more she had been able to access the inner recesses of her mind. She unlocked the kekkei genkai Storm Release and trained herself to use it within her inner mind. But now that she was awake, everything was crashing down around her. She lost her family, her friends, and nothing was the same. She never got to tell her family she loved them one last time, she never got to hug her father and let her brother rub her head, messing up her hair, she never got to be a teacher, she never got to really experience anything with Kakashi in their relationship, having been together only a year, and she may have lost him during that time. Nothing was right in the world, it would never be the same, it would never be her life again.

Kakashi held her and let her cry, weeping into him. He just stood there with her until the sky had darkened and Raina had no tears left to shed. When she grew silent, Kakashi lifted her chin and looked down at her, gazing into her teal eyes. He stroked her hair, her cheek, her shoulder, her arm, anywhere he could comfort her.

"Raina... still beautiful after nine long years..." he said, smiling. "I'm so glad you're awake..."

Raina looked up at him and touched his cheeks. "Kakashi, I'm so sorry..."

"Why do you have to be sorry?" Kakashi asked.

"I left you alone... I couldn't stop Itachi... I couldn't be here to help protect everyone..." she said, looking away.

Kakashi lifted her chin and kissed her, softly enough to make sure she knew it was OK. When he pulled away, he looked down at her. "None of that was your fault... You never left me alone either... I stayed with you every day and never once left your side unless it was really important. I brought you flowers every week- purple and blue azaleas- I held your hand, I even tried to read you 'Ichi Ichi' books in hopes I'd bore you awake."

Raina looked at him. "But, Father and Asuma..."

"Your father died trying to protect the village from Orochimaru and Asuma died protecting the village as well. He and Kurenai got married, you know. They had a daughter together- her name is Mirai."

"I have a niece?" Raina asked.

"Yes, and a nephew. His name is Konohamaru. He's Mirai's cousin and he's all grown up now, too."

Raina felt some sense of relief come through. "What about my mother?"

"She passed away a few years after Asuma. Natural causes, but she is buried with your brother and father." Kakashi said, his smile fading.

"I feel like I failed everyone, Kakashi..." Raina said, looking down.

Kakashi pulled her closer and kissed her hair. "No, sweetheart, you didn't fail anyone." They stood there for a few more moments before Kakashi suggested they return to the hospital.

Raina nodded and let him take her back to the hospital where she was fussed over by Tsunade and the nurses. Kakashi promised to pick her up in the morning when she was cleared for discharge and take her home. Raina thought everything over and she knew there would be a lot of things to get used to. Patience and time could only give her a normal life- as normal of one as she could have.


End file.
